Top Shot Answers from Mike Seeklander

[mikeseeklander]

Hey everyone, I normally don't post in Enos much, but thought I would give you information based on what I experienced. After that, I would ask you watch, support, and have fun with the show and forget the rest. I have been on a ton of forums lately out of my curiosity, and think the ENOS forum is the most objective I have seen.

One other thing, I am very disappointed by many of the posters on many forums I won't name, mainly because of their ignorance, and total lack or honor or respect for anyone when they are holed up in their home hiding behind their keyboard. If we are truly a shooting "community" then we all have it in our best interest to support mainstream media for embracing and running a shooting show, and maybe we should have some level of respect for our fellow shooters. Unfortunately, I can see why the liberal media labels some of those who just project negativity and hatred of pretty much anything they can hack out with their little fingers. For those who want to chastise me, go ahead. I did not deflect blame, nor will I. What I will not do is cut anyone down from behind my keyboard, sitting safely in my computer room or office. I will leave that to the dishonorable slim balls who operate that way.

Here are my thoughts, responses to questions you have raised:

Was the gun rigged? I seriously doubt it. I really don't think anyone would do that? As far as the loose sights comment, I know I did not use the technical term, but mid shooting I found that the sliding device that is part of the ladder sight was loose and moving. I screwed it tight and began shooting again (and missing damn it!) I don't think it was zeroed (and in truth, I didn't know a danm thing about the ladder sights, etc.) and I also was not familiar with zeroing a rifle like that before now. (see a new project I am starting called "Project Crosstrain" on my site soon.

Was my spotter to blame? He is no more than me. I wished we both would have had days, weeks, months to work as a team with that gun....but we got about 10 minutes the day before (by the way, that was the first time Andre spotted for me).

Why did I not or he not see the vapor trail? There was none that day. Also the target was shrouded by bushes and impacts were impossible for me to see. I am not sure what Andre saw through the scope.

Was I jerking the trigger, or stressed, or caving under pressure? No, I don't think so. After the first 5 or so shots, I was slowly aiming, and squeezing, etc. I even had time to switch to a standing position and rest on the top bags, thinking I was disturbing or touching the barrel on something when I was in a kneeling position. I have shot years ago in some high power, and have shot at 500 and 600 yards. While I might have been making a shooting error, mostly I was unable to figure out where to aim. Not sure where 37 shots came from, but the point is, on the last shot fired, I STILL did not have a clue where I should be aiming (I was aiming VERY low left during that last shot).

Is my youtube video my way of saying I am not to blame? Shame on you for thinking this! As posted, I simply did a sanity test to see it I could hit the broad side of a barn with that gun (Yes, I know it was a different variant with a peep sight). I did the video for me, not for anyone else!

Who should we blame for my mistake? No one, blame me. Maybe I suck. Get over it, I have.

How much time did I have to zero the gun? I shot the gun about 10-15 minutes, a portion of which was spent trying to get the gun on target at 50. I never used the ladder sight.....and did not even know it existed or how it worked. We did not get this instruction. I fired about 10 rounds and wrote where I thought I would/should aim to hit a target using the notch sight at 100. I believe I got one (although I am doubting this now) hit on the 100 yard target in practice before we rotated. The reason we rotated was because we thought we should get on each of the four guns provided in practice, and in hindsight we should have spent the entire time (30-40 minutes) on one gun (oops!).

Why did I vote for Kelly? Mistake! As said before, I wish I would have shot against my spotter. Hindsight again, but I doubt any of you make perfect decisions all the time. If you do, you are much cooler than me. Obviously, I really did want to shoot against the best shooter, but tactically that might have been dumb. Once again, I made a decision that I would change (and might have changed then) now.

Why did I not shoot at the 50 yard target to see where I was hitting? Not sure. I did not think of that at the time. It was all over pretty quick. That is a great idea, but honestly I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed that I would have had that much of a problem.

Why did Andre say I was talking about how good I was? No idea, and I am not sure where he got that from. Initially, I queried the team what skills they had and had them all rate themselves on a scale from one to ten for use in making decisions on the fly if we needed to pick a strong team member. I wrote this in a chart like drawing in my notebook and wrote their answers down. I think Andre thought I was trying to game something, when in reality I told them all they could have a copy. Upon more negative comments, I ripped the piece of paper up in front of the group (and on camera), to let them know I really did not care to use it, and that I was just trying to prepare for future events as a TEAM so we could make the best decisions possible.

Did I shoot the 100 yard target because I thought I was better? No, actually in our conversation prior to starting, Andre volunteered to shoot at 50, so I said "Ok". Obviously I was team leader and did not think there was any reason to NOT shoot the 100, even though I was not sure of the gun zero.

Why did I use the term "clicks" when calling for Andre? Because it was simple, easy to here verbiage. We decided that each "click" would represent about an inch. We never had an intention of adjusting the sights (I did not know how anyway!). Boy, the some of the forum folks are going crazy on this one....CALM DOWN GUYS/GALS, I JUST USED THE TERM BECAUSE IT WAS SIMPLE and EASY TO HEAR. KINDA LIKE SOME OF YOU SAY "CLIP" WHEN YOU MEAN MAGAZINE.....

I will be very happy to answer any more questions that I might have forgotten. Email me or post here.

[Bigpops]

Wow. I have not watched the show....and after reading all of this not sure I will. Mike, I have read nothing but good things about you. If other forums are so bad that you have to have a rebuttal such as this - well all I can say is good luck and have fun! The heck with the rest of this junk!

[MarkCO]

Mike, nice summary. I will admit I was shocked, and frustrated right along with you during the team on team event. You played the game the way it was set-up, learned and moved on with respect. All anyone can ask. When you stepped to the line to "vote", I was yelling "Andre", but I guess you could not hear me

My wife actually sat and watched the whole show. She made me pause each time a new shooter came up and I had to tell her who they were, if I had ever met them, etc. After the show, she told me I should e-mail you Mike, and tell you "Good Job". I think this will suffice. She is not a shooter, but she enjoyed the show. For that, I say Kudos to the show as well! Even though I DVR'd it, I actually watched the commercials because I wanted to see who advertised on this show. Not sure if the advertisers got to "pick" or if it was just a general channel advert package. If you know Mike, I would like to know as well.

[Dan Hefta]

I am a big fan of the show, Love it so far! Now I am a big Mike Seeklander fan, you have huge brass ones!

[mikeseeklander]

Mike, nice summary. I will admit I was shocked, and frustrated right along with you during the team on team event. You played the game the way it was set-up, learned and moved on with respect. All anyone can ask. When you stepped to the line to "vote", I was yelling "Andre", but I guess you could not hear me

My wife actually sat and watched the whole show. She made me pause each time a new shooter came up and I had to tell her who they were, if I had ever met them, etc. After the show, she told me I should e-mail you Mike, and tell you "Good Job". I think this will suffice. She is not a shooter, but she enjoyed the show. For that, I say Kudos to the show as well! Even though I DVR'd it, I actually watched the commercials because I wanted to see who advertised on this show. Not sure if the advertisers got to "pick" or if it was just a general channel advert package. If you know Mike, I would like to know as well.

Sir, sorry but I do not know who the advertisers were. I do know that none, or very few gun related companies were on board, and I hope this changes in the future just so we get them more involved. Sorry I can't give you more details!

[Merlin Orr]

While I enjoyed the show...Kinda... It appears obvious to me that there will be a huge element of luck in the outcomes of the competitions unless the competitors have some way to check zero and point of aim on the weapons they are given. A small target at 100 yards without ample background (dirt, paper or something) to determine where the gun is shooting is not the way to see who is the "Top Shot" - just who is the luckiest shot.

Just my .02....

[Flexmoney]

Mike,

I didn't even make it to 17th place. Way to get in the dance.

You came off with integrity and character.

[M ammo]

While I enjoyed the show...Kinda... It appears obvious to me that there will be a huge element of luck in the outcomes of the competitions unless the competitors have some way to check zero and point of aim on the weapons they are given. A small target at 100 yards without ample background (dirt, paper or something) to determine where the gun is shooting is not the way to see who is the "Top Shot" - just who is the luckiest shot.

Just my .02....

+ .02 On what Merlin says.

Now we have .04 cents.

I pick up guns,,, for Competition,,, hmmmmmmm

Jim M ammo

[abn-rgr]

Ive been monitoring some of the smack talk on AR15.com. Ive been defending Mike because it is a show and they only show the clips they want to. Everyone is saying how cocky Mike was and how he got it handed to him. The only two folks they showed talking smack was Mike and the kid. I imagine next week we will be able to tell who is in the elimination based on who talks the most smack. We all would have been big talking to. Thats what men who are confident in their abilities do. I think Mike was pretty gracious when he had a bad hand dealt to him. I just wish we could have seen him work a pistol!!! I guess Im rooting for Blake and JJ now.

[Corey]

great post, Mike.

[GentlemanJim]

Darn it...I missed most of the show, just saw the end

Thanks for the post Mike!

Jim

[DWFAN]

Darn it...I missed most of the show, just saw the end

Thanks for the post Mike!

Jim

Hulu.com has the whole episode.

[-JQ-]

Great post.

Too bad you had to be the one to go...

[cliffwalsh]

I can't believe they didn't let the teams use the guns they practiced with. That doesn’t seem right.

Hate to see one of ours go first.

[Cy Soto]

I haven't seen this attitude in this forum but, while following similar threads in other forums, I have noted that some arm-chair-commandos take reality TV shows too seriously. For this reason these same folks can sometimes be offensive towards those who - in their eyes - don't perform up to their standards. They should understand that this is just a TV show; good ol' entertainment for the masses!

The truth is that Mike did a wonderful job in the first episode of this show and there is no doubt in my mind that he would have continued to do so had he was given the opportunity to remain in the show.

Kudos to you Mike for a job well done and kudos to History Channel for putting this show together!

[Pezco]

Mike, great post!

[NovaShooter]

Mike,

I have never met you before and only know of you from friends and fellow shooters. Kudos to you for manning up, "I was behind the gun"

There is a reason for your solid reputation amongst the competition shooting community! Don't let a holes get you down.

Hope to come take a class with you and "Big Dumb" (aka Lund) in the near future!!

Get E'm Good,

Jayson

[ong45]

Good Job Mike, I only hope i can carry myself with the class you showed under adverse situations.

[benos]

Thanks Mike.

I can't believe they didn't let the teams use the guns they practiced with. That doesn’t seem right.

Nor does it make any sense whatsoever.

be

[lneel]

Mike, great post! It would have been easy to blame something for the short coming but manning up and taking it earns a Gold Star from me!

Lee

[mikeseeklander]

Mike,

I have never met you before and only know of you from friends and fellow shooters. Kudos to you for manning up, "I was behind the gun"

There is a reason for your solid reputation amongst the competition shooting community! Don't let a holes get you down.

Hope to come take a class with you and "Big Dumb" (aka Lund) in the near future!!

Get E'm Good,

Jayson

Thanks! I love the big dumb comment, can I use that without him squashing me?

[mikeseeklander]

Thanks Mike.

I can't believe they didn't let the teams use the guns they practiced with. That doesn’t seem right.

Nor does it make any sense whatsoever.

be

Sorry guys, not sure where you got that, but I was told we WERE using the guns we shot in practice. (I hope you did not misread something I wrote). There was no way to verify, and I did not check serial numbers but was told it was the same gun. Practice on them was very limited though (I am not sure I would call it practice).

[XD Niner]

Kudos to you Mike for both taking the challenge and for your excellent post. Flex had it 2/3 right when he said you showed integrity and character. He only left off great class.

[mikeseeklander]

Good Job Mike, I only hope i can carry myself with the class you showed under adverse situations.

Honestly, I think most folks on THIS particular forum would have acted just like I did (and I will go as far as saying that almost everyone I have ever met on the range would too)......not sure about others (forums). As you can tell, I was not happy with some of the commandos typing away.

[waxman]

I watched the show, and like most have expressed, I am happy to have a shooting show in the mainstream media. When I saw the competators, and the skill I knew they possed, I assumed it would come down to Mike, JJ, or Blake. Guess the reality tv factor was not figured in. The Giant elephant here in the room, that most people are not mentioning, is How can a rifle chambered in 30-06, hit a target dead center at 50 yards, and then miss compleatly, even the surrounding paper at 100 yards?I am not sure about the ballistics of this, but I doubt there is even 1-2 inches of change in the bullet impact at these 2 distances.I think the facts are obvious, the gun, either shot really wacky, or the sight was so loose, it moved with every shot. I think this is very unfair to give one competator faulty equipment, and another functioning equipment. Who is in charge of the weapons on this show?dont they know what to look for in a serviceable rifle? I think Mike handled this very well, and I personally would have been very upset, with how this all played out.Good job mike, You did yourself, and our sport proud, anyone who knows, knows this was more of a test of luck then skill.